Editor’s Note: This article was also published in the Benet Herald 2025 Graduation Edition.

This school year, the Benet Boys Hockey team had an unparalleled season, culminating in being named the regular-season champions of the Chicago Catholic Hockey League (CCHL). They finished second in the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois’ (AHAI) Red Varsity Division, the most competitive division in high school hockey. 

Numerous players from the class of 2025 stepped up to make Benet’s team memorable this year. Four of Benet’s top seniors were named to the CCHL All-Star Team, a league that includes ten varsity club teams from the East Suburban Catholic Conference as well as the Chicago Catholic League. These players included Senior Captain Hudson Schlie, who led the entire CCHL in points and is Benet Hockey’s all-time points leader and assists leader, Alternate Captain Gianluca DiCosola, key contributor Jimmy Cannon, and goalie Benjamin Ciesla, who underwent massive development in the previous seasons, saving 93% of the shots on the goal at this point in the season. The development of Schlie and Ciesla was recognized once again on the AHAI’s All-State Hockey Team, a select group that both Schlie and Ciesla became a part of during this season. In particular, this year’s Benet Hockey team was fundamentally shaped by the 12 seniors on the varsity team. In addition to Ciesla being the primary goalie and Schlie being the team captain, Luca DiCosola and Danny Quinlan were both named Alternate Captains for the team. Senior players that offered key contributions to the team, becoming valued assets in the high-pressure moments of overtime included the aforementioned Jimmy Cannon, as well as Cade Rosenthal, Tommy Dusek, Evan Petratos, Michael O’Rourke, Davin Frasco, Hudson Hollweck, Vincenzo Porro, alternate goalie Ava Christensen, and JV senior John Neboyskey. 

With road trips on numerous occasions sharpening their talent, and CCHL games in the interim, heading into the start of the postseason, the Redwings were 17-1 in regular-season conference play, having dropped only one game to Fenwick in a 1-0 loss. After earning the #1 seed in the Kennedy Cup, the CCHL’s conference tournament championship that is played in a best-of-three format, the Redwings took care of business by defeating St. Rita and Fenwick in two games each to advance to the finals. Despite winning their road game in the Kennedy Cup finals, Benet’s Hockey team came up short in the conference championship series by losing two games 4-1 and 6-2 respectively against St. Ignatius. 

Nail-biting finishes for the Redwings repeatedly broke AHAI records for some of the longest games ever played in recent memory; Benet’s game against York White lasted one overtime period, while games against Deerfield and #2 seeded Glenbrook North went to double overtime. Players Vincenzo Porro, Davin Frasco, and Gianluca DiCosola bailed out the Redwings from defeat. After defeating #3-seeded Loyola Academy’s hockey team by a score of 5 – 1, the #7-seeded Redwings faced New Trier, a juggernaut of a team that had previously won 18 state championships, including six in the preceding eight seasons. Despite thousands of Benet supporters packing the United Center and goalie Ben Ciesla blocking 31 shots on goal from some of the best shooters in the state, a goal scored within the first five minutes of the game resulted in a 1-0 loss.

Although the season did not end with a storybook finish, all the team’s players were forever grateful for the memories they had formed. Captain Hudson Schlie recalled his time on the team, “I could not be more proud to play for this school and of how far we’ve come over the seniors’ four years here. Having to beat two of the top three teams to reach the championship was truly a testament to the special nature of this team. Playing at the United Center was a dream come true, and I believe we left it all out there. We proved to the state how incredibly special the hockey program is here at Benet, and it’s truly a gift to be a small part of it.”